Humanist Thought of the Week

I’ve got a confession to make

God makes no difference to my morality.

This should come as no surprise since I’m a Humanist.

But I thought it was worth saying.

Here’s why.  

If a god or gods exist or don’t exist, it doesn’t matter.

I will feel the same way about what is right or wrong.

My morality won’t change.

The only question is whether this god, whoever or whatever it turns out to be, agrees with my morality or not. 

If we agree – then it’s all good and god won’t care if I don’t worship it as long as I am a good person.

If not, then that’s not a god I would consider worthy of worship.

Soooo, yeah, I guess that makes me officially apatheistic. 

Now you know.

Please Think Responsibly

Thinking is hard.

Just ask my son after 3 pages of math homework.

His brain gets tired and what was easy half an hour ago becomes nearly impossible.

If you want to make good decisions, you need to take care of your brain properly.

 A brain is an organ and a muscle.

And like any muscle, it has to be exercised properly and it can get tired.

You have to feed it properly and it also likes to play some too.

In order to think well you have to practice thinking well, actively and intentionally.

Be a responsible brain owner and please think responsibly.

Charlie Hebdo & Free Speech

As a Humanist I am all for free speech. 

You can say anything you want.

But free speech also means - so can anyone else.

People are not only free to disagree with you – they are free to tell you they think you are an idiot for holding the views you do.

This isn’t to say that free speech doesn’t entail responsibility. It does.

There are consequences to all speech.  And we should all accept those consequences. 

However, the consequences for speech you don’t like should be ... more speech! 

And for the record, death threats and murder are not only not considered speech, they aren’t a very good way to make your views known. 

I hate to talk to people like they are children but... use your words!!!!  

Assumptions

It seems like I talk about this a LOT!

But it is so central to effective problem solving it’s worth repeating.

We all make assumptions.

We can’t help it.

If we didn’t, we would never get anything done.

The question is not that you assume, but whether what you assume has any relationship to reality or not.

Which is why, when you are trying to solve a problem, assume the problem has natural as opposed to supernatural causes. 

Sure, this “natural” assumption could be wrong and your problem could have a supernatural cause. But that’s highly unlikely.

In fact, and I realize my personal experience is entirely anecdotal, but ...

In my entire life, I’ve never had a problem that turned out to be supernatural in origin. 

Crazy, right?

What this means in practical terms is that if I had assumed my problems were religious or spiritual or supernatural in nature, I would have failed to solve my problems.

So.... if you have to assume anything, start by assuming natural causation and don’t waste your time on supernatural BS. 

Evolved Thinking

An interesting ad popped up in my Facebook feed the other day.

It said – “Are you interested in the evolution of your own spiritual level?” 

First – no idea what a spiritual level is.

However, if you were to ask, “Am I interested in evolving the way I think?” The answer is yes.  

I’m all for evolved thinking. 

My thinking has evolved over the course of my life. 

I have achieved what little level of evolved thinking I have through the guided evolution of intentional learning. 

It has made me a better, more compassionate and effective person. 

If you are interested in a little guided evolution in your thinking, check out the courses at Humanist Learning Systems https://humanistlearning.com